It’s always great to share a success story, especially when it involves overcoming some challenges along the way. I recently upgraded my smart home system from version 0.80.0 to 0.89.1, and I’m thrilled to say it went smoothly! Here’s how I did it and what I learned along the way.
First, I made sure to thoroughly review all the breaking changes and new features introduced over the past nine releases. This preparation was key to ensuring a seamless transition. The two major changes that impacted me the most were the adoption of the Lovelace UI and the “Great Migration” of my custom MQTT components (climate.py and alarm_control_panel.py). I set up a test environment on an old laptop running Ubuntu and Docker to experiment with these changes before making any modifications to my production system.
I started by customizing the Lovelace UI to my liking, using ui-lovelace.yaml to organize my interface. Once I was happy with the layout, I focused on adapting my custom components. This involved some minor code adjustments to ensure they would work seamlessly with the new system. After resolving any issues, I performed a general cleanup of my YAML configuration files to make everything neat and organized.
For the actual upgrade, I stopped my Home Assistant service on the production system, which runs on a 32-bit netbook with Lubuntu and a Python virtual environment. I carefully copied all the updated configuration files and custom components from my test environment to the production system, making sure to account for any environment-specific settings. I then followed the standard upgrade procedure for the virtual environment and rebooted the system.
To my delight, everything started up perfectly, and I was greeted with my newly configured Lovelace UI, showing all my devices in perfect order. I quickly tested the UI controls and the HomeKit component, both of which worked flawlessly. It was a relief to see everything functioning as expected after all that preparation.
This experience reinforced my appreciation for the Home Assistant community. The developers and supporters who contribute to this amazing project truly deserve a huge thank you. Their hard work makes it possible for us to enjoy such a flexible and powerful smart home system.
If you’re considering an upgrade, I highly recommend taking the time to prepare thoroughly, test in a controlled environment, and document your changes. It might seem time-consuming, but it pays off in the end with a smooth transition and a better-functioning system.
Happy upgrading everyone! 